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We’re still working out the details, but the annual KPFA Grateful Dead marathon will take place all over the world on Saturday, February 9, 2008, from 9:00 am to 1:00 am pacific time. If all goes according to plan, we’ll be webcasting via DeadNet, nugs.net, gdradio, kpfa.org, and kfcf.org. As usual, we’ll have tons of great music, much of which you haven’t heard before. I’m working on a live musical guest or two. And various donors will be providing some excellent “thank-you gifts” for those who pledge support to this venerable listener-sponsored institution. More details to come asap. Watch this space.

This is an old article, but it came up on a European Deadheads’ mailing list and I thought it worth pointing to again. Warren Haynes talks about the Grateful Dead in Rolling Stone in April 2005. A couple of excerpts:

Obviously, most of today’s jam bands are influenced by the Dead. But what disappoints me about a lot of current music is that you don’t hear any history in it. The Dead were aficionados of folk, acoustic blues and bluegrass — particularly Garcia. In the songs he wrote with Robert Hunter, and in Bob Weir’s stuff too, you’re also hearing music from forty, fifty years ago. Everyone focuses on the magic of Jerry’s guitar playing and the vulnerability of his voice, but his sense of melody and chord changes was unbelievable. The ballads especially connected with me: “Loser,” “Wharf Rat,” “Stella Blue.”

Jerry is still one of the few guitarists where as soon as you hear him, you know instantly who it is. As a guitar player, that is the thing I strive for: the distinct, recognizable personality that comes out in every note. There was a humanity in Jerry’s guitar work as well as his singing that drew you in. He was a very personal guitarist; he played with more heart and soul than technique. And to me, that’s what the best music is made of.

Mary Eisenhart brought this to my attention. It’s from the Deadheads of Europe topic in the DeadNet Forum. The author was kind enough to give me permission to repost it here.

Frankly
Posted: January 13, 2008 – 2:39am
post communist europe

Hi everybody!i am living in the czech republic and i want to say that even if there never was an opportunity to see the Boys playing live over here there are amazingly many deadheads over here.and the more we missed the concerts the more we cherished tapes,vynils etc. With the uprising of the cd we could start to listen to high quality live recordings that, beside the regular albums, were never or very rarely available. but i want to tell you about a very sad day in 95 we all remember. sitting in a bar in the center of prague thunder and lightning hit me as i opened the paper and read the news. but to my surprise many people who knew about my interest into the DEAD came up to me to show their support and understanding over that tragic loss! Even more, as the evening went by, a taxi-driver (which are the greediest human beings in town) offered to play a tape i had with me on his giant car-stereo in front of the bar!!! the tape i had was the Boys at red rocks and it was played again and again until 3 o ‘clock in the morning with dozens of people hanging out, dancing and having a great time. It was pure magic in the center of town… even a russian mafioso, who has been to the states for a while hugged me with tear in his eyes and we had a J together looking at the moon and listening to Jerry playing FRANKLINS TOWER!! Yeah even prague said good bye to Jerry in a way that suited this man. P.S. As this was happening in the center of town, neighbors must have called the cops more than once (the stereo in the car was just BIG) but the guy had a remote control and every time the cops drove by, he simply paused the music just to start it again when they were gone… and the name of the bar was The Singers Place!!!

Posted with permission, natch:

David,

I just wanted to drop a note to thank you for selecting the Ratdog 7/17/07 Columbus OH show on the GD hour replayed on Sirius satellite radio on 1/13/08. Keep up the great work! I have enjoyed the GD hour since the late ’80s and always reflect back on those fun times when I catch the show.

I have a particular sentiment that I would be grateful if you could pass on to Bob Weir directly. Specifically, I get a great big kick out of the fact that he sings (and clearly enjoys) Jerry songs as part of his Ratdog sets. On the 7/17/07 show I was thrilled and filled with spirits past and present when Bob ran through the likes of ‘Might as Well’, ‘Jack-a-Roe’, ‘You Win Again’, “Liberty”, and “He’s Gone”- all great tunes in their own right, but especially wondrous because they were sung by Jerry in days gone by and now brought back to another level by Bobby with Ratdog. I just smiled and thought of happy space and the joy of life through the musical journey and felt compelled to share my feelings (I have never communicated with a band in my life). I looked through some of my Ratdog sets ranging from 1997-2005 and never noticed so many Jerry songs in a row, so I felt even happier about this really heartwarming and loving tribute. The arrangement of these tunes by Weir makes an interesting comparison to other tunes that are covered by surviving band members when the singer of note passes on. The one that comes to my mind is The Band, where the late, great Rick Danko would sing ‘Shape I’m in’ once Richard Manuel crossed the great divide. His version was always sad to me and sounded a lot like Richard, whereas the Weir renderings were the opposite- just joyful versions that were distinctly Weir in nature, maybe with a wink and a tip of the pick to the old bearded guy.

Thanks for your endless time and effort in music on my behalf and enjoyment.

STEVE GINSBERG

PS Believe it or not, my very first concert was actually Bobby & the Midnites in Rochester, New York, February 1982. I was 15 and went with 2 other 15- year old friends and sat in Row XX of a Row ZZ theater. Wow, I received an adult dose of a concert, equipped with my first contact high and an all around life brightening experience. The opening band was Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, who had just released their single hit, ‘I Love Rock-n-Roll’, which did not fit in with the headlining act at all, but was sure a trip to see. Bob, Alphonso Johnson, and Billy Cobham really stood out, and ‘Little Red Rooster’ and Satisfaction’ were highlights. Just a little tidbit from the vaults of my mind that is as much fun to think about as it is to pass on to you guys.